Designing a digital key for hotel applications

Abstract: Although hotels have already started to implement online check-ins and digital keys in their applications, there has not been much research on the design of these prominent features. This thesis focuses on designing a digital key that is both easy to use and perceived as safe. A Research through Design approach was followed consisting of semi-structured interviews, an analysis of textual user reviews, and Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi prototyping in order to understand the needs and problems users face while receiving and using a digital key, as well as to provide further design directions for this feature. The findings showed that using a mobile phone to open a door or gate was already part of some of the participants’daily life. Still, many people do not like to rush into this digitalization. Hotel guests do not seem very worried about safety and using a digital key because the level of trust is high in the hospitality industry. The design presented in this paper serves as a starting point on how to design the receiving and using of a digital key.